Barbara Strozzilaan 336
1083 HN Amsterdam
The Netherlands
gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org

1

GSSB summary of the virtual meeting2

held on 29 April 2021
Approved by the GSSB on 10 June 2021

© GRI 2021

3Contents
Participants.............................................................................................................................................. 3
List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ 3
Decisions and action items ..................................................................................................................... 4
Session 1: Welcome ............................................................................................................................... 5
Session 2: GRI Sector Standards program ............................................................................................. 5
Exposure draft Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fishing ...................................................................... 5
Exposure draft Coal ......................................................................................................................... 6
Session 3: GRI Universal Standards project........................................................................................... 6
Reasons for omission ...................................................................................................................... 7Statement of use .............................................................................................................................. 7
Governance disclosures .................................................................................................................. 8
Notification requirement ................................................................................................................... 9Session 4: GRI Standards format update ............................................................................................... 9Session 5: Any other business and close of public meeting ................................................................. 10Page 2 of 10

4Participants

5

Present:

678NameConstituency

Judy Kuszewski

Chair

Robyn Leeson

Vice-Chair

Loredana Carta

LaborPeter Colley

Labor

Giulia Genuardi

Business enterprise

Evan Harvey

Investment institution

Joseph Martin

Business enterpriseJennifer Princing

Business enterprise

Corli le RouxMediating institution

Kim Schumacher

Civil society organization

Gustavo SinnerMediating institution

Kenton Swift

Civil society organization

Rama Krishnan Venkateswaran

Investment institution

Michel Washer

Business enterprise

Apologies:
Name

Constituency

Vincent Kong

Business enterprise

In attendance from GRI:
Name

Position

Bastian Buck

Chief of Standards

Margarita Lysenkova

Manager

Noora Puro

Manager

Anna Krotova

Senior Manager

List of abbreviationsGSSB
HGBPWG
RFOSD

Global Sustainability Standards Board
highest governance bodyProject Working Groupreason for omission
Standards Division

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9Decisions and action items

10Decisions

11GSSB Decision 2021.05 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 01 - Draft summary of GSSB meeting

124 March 2021.

13GSSB Decision 2021.06 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 02 - Draft summary of GSSB meeting1423 March 2021.

15GSSB Decision 2021.07 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 03 - GRI Sector Standards Project for

16

Agriculture and Fishing - Exposure draft for agriculture, aquaculture and fishing, and to change the17name of the Sector Standard to the GRI Sector Standard: Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fishing.

18GSSB Decision 2021.08 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 04 – GRI Sector Standards Project for

19Oil, Gas, and Coal – Exposure draft for Coal.

20Action items
GSSB
Session 2 and 3•

GSSB to provide any feedback on the proposed Sector
Standard public comment questions to the SD by 7 May 2021.

•GSSB to review and provide feedback on the revised reasonsfor omission text to the SD prior to approving the final draft ofthe Universal Standards.

•GSSB to debate the decisions and potential consequences ofrequiring sign off on the statement of use by the highest
governance body at a private session, in order to be preparedto take the decision on the content in the next public meeting.

•GSSB to revisit decision to expand GOV-13 to also report on
executive remuneration at a later date.

•GSSB to revisit the issue of notification requirement at a futuremeeting.

Standards Division
Session 2 and 3•

SD to circulate the draft of the text in reasons for omission tothe GSSB prior to the final approval of the Universal Standards.

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•SD to incorporate mention of countries as a dimension ofbusiness competencies into the final draft of GOV-1 and GOV2, with updated wording as suggested by the GSSB.

•SD to evaluate and report whether the information requestedby the GSSB member in GOV-4 is included in othergovernance disclosures.

•SD to present the GRI Standards format at a follow-up meeting.

21

Session 1: Welcome

22

The Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) Chair Judy Kuszewski (henceforth the Chair)

23

welcomed the GSSB and presented an overview of the meeting agenda.

24

The GSSB was presented with Item 01 - Draft summary of GSSB meeting 4 March 2021 and Item 02

25- Draft summary of GSSB meeting 23 March 2021 for approval.

26

GSSB Decision 2021.06 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 01 - Draft summary of GSSB meeting27

4 March 2021.

28

GSSB Decision 2021.07 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 02 - Draft summary of GSSB meeting

29

23 March 2021.

30

Session 2: GRI Sector Standards

31

program32

Exposure draft Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fishing

33

The GSSB was presented with Item 03 - GRI Sector Standards Project for Agriculture and Fishing -34

Exposure draft for review and approval. The Standards Division (SD) reviewed the progress of the35GRI Sector Standards Project for Agriculture and Fishing, and the content of the exposure draft,36

highlighting the addition of aquaculture in the Sector Standard title.

37

A GSSB member questioned whether the GRI Agriculture and Fishing Sector Standards Project38

Working Group (PWG) had discussed whether including all topics together would make the scope for

39

the Sector Standard too broad. The SD responded that the PWG had not indicated that the topics

40should be split. However, the group did raise the need to balance the descriptions of impacts related

41

to agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing, and this has subsequently been addressed in the draft.

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Another GSSB member questioned whether there was enough focus on the detail of reporting

43

requirements in the draft but indicated that this could be raised during and after the public comment

44

period.

45

The Chair asked if there were any concerns or further discussion from GSSB members on the name46change and exposure draft. No further comments were raised, and the Chair confirmed that both were47

approved.

48

GSSB Decision 2021.08 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 03 - GRI Sector Standards Project for

49

Agriculture and Fishing - Exposure draft for agriculture, aquaculture and fishing, and to change the50

name of the Sector Standard to the GRI Sector Standard: Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fishing.

51

Exposure draft Coal

52

The GSSB was presented with Item 04 – GRI Sector Standards Project for Oil, Gas, and Coal –53

Exposure draft for Coal for review and approval. The SD reviewed the progress of the GRI Sector

54Standards Project for Oil, Gas and Coal, and the content of the exposure draft for coal.

55

A GSSB member highlighted the need to be careful with the language used around Scope 1, Scope 2

56

and Scope 3 emissions, specifically regarding allocating responsibility for Scope 3 emissions.

57

The Chair requested any further feedback or concerns from GSSB members on the exposure draft.

58

No further comments were raised, and the Chair confirmed that the exposure draft was approved.

59

GSSB Decision 2021.09 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 04 – GRI Sector Standards Project for

60

Oil, Gas, and Coal – Exposure draft for Coal.

61

The SD reviewed details of both planned public comment periods, and the Chair highlighted that62

GSSB feedback on the proposed public comment questions should be received by 7 May 2021.

63

Actions:

64
65•GSSB to provide any feedback on the proposed Sector Standard public comment questions
to the SD by 7 May 2021.

66

Session 3: GRI Universal Standards

67

project

68

The SD presented an update on the latest changes to the draft of the Universal Standards, and set

69

out to resolve the final open issues of reasons for omission, statement of use and the governance70

disclosures.

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Reasons for omission

72

The SD presented a concern that allowing a ‘not applicable’ reason for omission (RFO) when an item73

to be reported (such as a policy or commitment) does not exist contradicts the expectations set in the74

requirement or the disclosure.

75

Allowing this RFO in such a situation had been settled on by the GSSB in previous meetings.

76

However, subsequent review by the SD indicated that allowing this RFO would be incorrect as the77

requirement or disclosure applies to the organization whether the item exists or not. Instead, an78

organization should report that they do not have the item in question as part of the reported

79

information. The SD proposed to clarify these approaches accordingly in the draft.

80

Some GSSB members argued that is it indeed important to provide the information about why such81

an item does not exist because it gives a full picture of how the organization manages its impacts and82

can be important to information users. Other GSSB members discussed that it seemed to be a matter83

of confusion with language, with clarification needed between ‘not applicable’ and ‘does not exist’.

84

Another GSSB member indicated that it is better for information users to have the information

85

included in the content index.

86

The SD clarified that the issue in question is whether the information will be allowed to be reported

87

briefly in the content index, or more at length in the reporting material. They highlighted revisions had

88

initially been made to address public comment feedback that it was unclear how to report something

89

that does not exist.

90

The SD and Chair discussed consensus for distinguishing between disclosures that are not applicable91

and items that do not exist, and how to clarify this. They discussed that the GSSB needed to review

92and comment on revised text to move forward. The SD will thus amend the text with GSSB input

93

before it the final approval of the Standard.

94

Actions:

95

•

96
97
98

SD to circulate the draft of the text on reasons for omission to the GSSB prior to the final
approval of the Universal Standards.

•GSSB to review and provide feedback on the revised reasons for omission text to the SDprior to approving the final draft of the Universal Standards.

99Statement of use

100

The SD then presented an overview of the complications associated with the statement of use,

101

including a proposal for revisions to the statement of use without reference to the highest governance102

body (HGB) and with revised guidance.

103

The Chair asked for further clarification on the need for revisions. The SD discussed the complication

104of trying to require the HGB to make the statement when there are different legal considerations

105

following from such a statement in different jurisdictions worldwide. This led the SD to opt for aPage 7 of 10

106

statement of use issued by the organization in its simplest form but maintaining the essence for107

interested users of the information.

108

GSSB members discussed this proposal. Some strongly supported the revised language for the109

reasons described by the SD. Others felt that having the HGB or chief executive sign off on the110

reporting is necessary to drive change and to clarify for the HGB that sustainability reporting is their111

responsibility. A member also highlighted that boards commonly appoint experts to provide

112

information for board sign off. The member also stated that it would be a significant reduction in the113

impact of the GRI Standards to not expect the HGB to carry this responsibility.

114

The Chair confirmed and reiterated the fundamental point of debate as whether the HGB should be115

required to bear responsibility for sustainability reporting. The SD added that a link to the HGB

116

remained in one of the governance disclosures, which requires reporting the process undertaken by117

the HGB to review and approve the reported information.

118

Members continued to reiterate their preferred stances without reaching consensus. There was a119

suggestion to strengthen the guidance in the governance disclosure requiring the HGB to specifically120

review the sustainability reporting, without fully requiring HGB sign off.

121

The Chair stated that because no progress was being made on the issue, the debate should be122

deferred.

123

Actions:

124
125•GSSB to debate the decisions and potential consequences of requiring sign off on thestatement of use by the highest governance body.

126

Governance disclosures

127

The GSSB was presented with Item 05 - GRI Universal Standards Project - Revised governance128

disclosures for discussion.

129

The SD presented proposals to address points raised by the GSSB in relation to the governance130

disclosures.

131

The first point concerned adding geography as a unique dimension of business competencies when132

describing the selection and composition of the highest governance body in GOV-1 and GOV-2. The

133

SD proposed two options: option 1, to refer to countries in which the organization operates, and134

option 2, to make no change.

135

A GSSB member proposed option 1, with an update of language to ‘competencies relevant to the136

organizations and to the countries and sectors in which it operates’. Some support for option 1 was137

raised by GSSB members. No concerns were raised. The Chair indicated that the SD should proceed138

with option 1, while incorporating the suggested language update.

139

The second point raised by the GSSB concerned adding reference to the process to identify, analyze

140

and mitigate risks to the organization in GOV-4. The SD proposed not to make changes to GOV-4,

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141

because the information is already requested in other disclosures, and the GRI Standards do not use

142

the concept of ‘risks to the organization’. They suggested to instead include the reference in the143

introduction to the governance section.

144

A GSSB member argued that by not mentioning external risk to the organization the HGB’s attention

145

would be diluted, and that moving the information to the section introduction would not provide

146

enough focus on the issue.

147

The Chair reiterated that much of the information requested by the member is required in other parts

148of the Universal Standards, but it was unclear if anything specific was missing. The Chair thus

149

suggested parking the question to allow review of the other disclosures for the information, and to150

revisit the decision after this has occurred.

151

The final point raised by the GSSB concerned changing GOV-13 to also address executive

152

remuneration. The SD suggested not introducing this additional disclosure because executive

153

remuneration is covered elsewhere, and public comment feedback raised many concerns with such154

disclosures.

155

GSSB members expressed some support for the change, but there was not time to come to a final

156

decision, which was deferred to a later meeting.

157

Actions:

158•

159
160

draft of GOV-1 and GOV-2, with updated wording as suggested by the GSSB.
•161
162

SD to incorporate mention of countries as a dimension of business competencies into the final

SD to evaluate and report whether the information requested by the GSSB member in GOV-4
is included in other governance disclosures.

•

163

GSSB to revisit decision to expand GOV-13 to also report on executive remuneration at alater date.

164

Notification requirement165

Due to lack of time, the issue of the notification requirement in the GRI Standards will be discussed at

166a future meeting.

167

Actions:

168•GSSB to revisit the issue of notification requirement at a follow-up meeting.

169

Session 4: GRI Standards format

170

updatePage 9 of 10

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Due to lack of time, Session 4 will be discussed at a follow-up meeting.

172

Actions:173•SD to present the GRI Standards format at a follow-up meeting.

174

Session 5: Any other business and175

close of public meeting

176

The Chair and the SD expressed their gratitude to Anna Krotova, who is leaving the SD, for the177

difference she with her focus, energy, and the consistent quality of her work, and wished her well on

178

her future endeavors.

179

No other business was raised, and the Chair closed the meeting at 15.04 CET (Central European180

Time).

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